SAN FRANCISCO – This could be great news for the Mavericks and their fans.
Luka Dončić had his worst game of the playoffs in the opener of the Western Conference finals on Wednesday night at Chase Center.
He had 20 points, his lowest of the playoffs. He had seven turnovers, tied for his highest in the playoffs. And he shot 6-of-18, worst in the 11 postseason games he’s played in the last month.
Who in the world doesn’t think he’s going to come back with a sterling performance in Game 2? And probably beyond that.
OK, so the Mavericks were minus-30 when Luka was on the court.
“He’s just brilliant,” said Spencer Dinwiddie. “I think he’s seen every defense from probably playing overseas when he was younger. If you’ve seen it before, you’ve probably developed counters for it.
“So now it’s just about continuing to improve game by game. And he’s one of the best in the business at doing it.”
Again, it’s reason for optimism for the Mavericks and their fans.
Never mind the 112-97 blowout in Game 1. It’s gone. Well, except for these takeaways from the series opener.
WARRIORS CAN DO DEFENSE: As coach Steve Kerr reminded everybody postgame: “You know, we had the second-ranked defense in the league this year. We take pride in our defense.” They started with Andrew Wiggins hugging Dončić, sometimes all over the court. They had Draymond Green, a former defensive player of the year, on Jalen Brunson for a spell. They switched things up at times. They simply have good defenders who work at that end of the floor. And that’s a big reason why the Mavericks only scored 87 points. They shot only 36 percent and their 3-point shooting was abysmal. They heaved 48 of them, making only 11 for 22.9 percent. The Mavericks contended they got a lot of open looks that just didn’t go in. They said that early in the Phoenix series, too. And turned out to be exactly correct.
AN OLD NEMESIS RE-EMERGES: The Mavericks had problems rebounding against Utah and Phoenix. It stands to reason they’d have problems against the Warriors. But against Steph Curry? The 6-2 point guard ripped down a dozen of the Warriors’51 rebounds. The Mavericks got only 35. “Steph has always been a really good rebounder for a guy his size,” said Steve Kerr. “He’s just got a knack for the ball and he obviously did a great job. There were several where you could see him kind of come over from the weak side because he read where the ball was going to go before anybody else did. I thought the rebounding was a big factor.”
BATTLE SCARS: Dončić had a really rough-looking red scar on his face running from the bridge of his nose across his right cheek. He got a hand raked across his face early in the game and he actually didn’t think much about it. “It’s good,” he said. “Makes me look tough.” Of more concern was a right shoulder that seemed to be giving him problems at points in the game. “Yeah, I felt a little bit of pain when I shot,” he said. “But it’s OK, it’s here behind (reaching over his shoulder). It’s fine. I’ll get some treatment and I’ll be fine.”
CAN’T KEEP A GOOD MAN DOWN: Klay Thompson was the not-so-proud owner of a goose egg in the first half. He didn’t score, missing all four of his shots, although he did have four rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots. He made up for it in the second half with 15 points, including 11 in the third quarter when the Warriors took complete control of the game. Thompson was one of seven Warriors that scored in double figures, including all five starters and Jordan Poole (19) and Otto Porter (10) off the bench.
BIG MEN DISAPPEARED: The Mavericks scored 87 points, 63 supplied by Dončić, Jalen Brunson, Spencer Dinwiddie and Reggie Bullock. The threesome on the front line of Dorian Finney-Smith, Maxi Kleber and Dwight Powell combined for just 11 points and 13 rebounds. Part of that was Kleber’s foul trouble that limited him to eight first half minutes. That’s not the kind of production that the Mavericks need out of their big men.
DON’T WORRY, BE HAPPY: We’ve seen this before. The Mavericks have lost the opener in all three playoff series this postseason. It’s no reason to step out on any ledges or reach for the nearest panic button. They went down 0-1 against Utah and 0-2 against Phoenix. They rallied with four wins in five games to advance past each of those series. Anybody who doubts that this team will improve markedly in the coming games against the Warriors does so at their own risk. And probably hasn’t been paying attention.
Twitter: @ESefko
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